Baking From Scratch

A few weeks ago I made my first attempt in a long time at baking from scratch. It was my mom’s husband’s birthday, so I made dinner and decided to make his birthday cake from scratch. I was really excited to try it, because I know that it is a completely different animal than cooking savory food, and I know that if I ever take steps towards my dreams of opening my own restaurant, I will need to know what I am doing. I decided on making a three layer Tiramisu cake that I found a recipe for.

One of the most important things I learned about baking is that you have to measure precisely to the recipes and follow each and every step exactly in order to get the correct results. I found it a lot less easy to adapt than I do when I cook savory dishes, and I realized that once you make a mistake there usually isn’t a way to make up for it. 

That being said, the cake actually turned out very good. The way I iced it made it look like a five year old did it, but like I said I am a newbie to baking. What’s most important is that the flavor of the cake really tasted like tiramisu. My mom and her husband loved it. I cannot wait to make it again for another occasion!

It really was a completely different experience for me compared to what I am used to. I really enjoyed it and cannot wait to get more practice. There are so many nuances to baking that I have not learned yet and I am looking forward to discovering them all. I hope you like this post as much as my reviews because I hope to be posting a lot more of these types of entries very soon! Check out the recipe below if you want to try it out! Cheers!

• CAKE:
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1 cup milk
• 3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon instant coffee powder
• 1/4 cup coffee
• 1 tablespoon coffee flavored liqueur

• FILLING:
• 1 (8 ounce) container mascarpone cheese
• 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
• 2 tablespoons coffee flavored liqueur

• FROSTING:
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
• 2 tablespoons coffee flavored liqueur

• GARNISH:
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 (1 ounce) square semisweet chocolate

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour 3 (9 inch) pans.
2. In a large bowl, cream sugar and shortening until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating thoroughly after each addition. Add flour mixture alternately with milk, beating just to combine. Add coffee, instant coffee powder, and coffee liquer. Mix until well incorporated. Finally, stir in vanilla. Pour batter into the prepared pans.
3. Divide two thirds of batter between 2 pans. Stir instant coffee into remaining batter; pour into remaining pan.
4. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely. In a measuring cup, combine brewed coffee and 1 tablespoon coffee liqueur; set aside.
5. To make the filling: In a small bowl, using an electric mixer set on low speed, combine mascarpone, 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar and 2 tablespoons coffee liqueur; beat just until smooth. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.
6. To make the frosting: In a medium bowl, using an electric mixer set on medium-high speed, beat the cream, 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar and 2 tablespoons coffee liqueur until stiff. Fold 1/2 cup of cream mixture into filling mixture.
7. To assemble the cake: Place one plain cake layer on a serving plate. Using a thin skewer, poke holes in cake, about 1 inch apart. Pour one third of reserved coffee mixture over cake, then spread with half of the filling mixture. Top with coffee-flavored cake layer; poke holes in cake. Pour another third of the coffee mixture over the second layer and spread with the remaining filling. Top with remaining cake layer; poke holes in cake. Pour remaining coffee mixture on top. Spread sides and top of cake with frosting. Place cocoa in a sieve and lightly dust top of cake. Garnish with chocolate curls. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes before serving.
8. To make the chocolate curls, use a vegetable peeler and run it down the edge of the chocolate bar.

Food on the Corner...

The Corner Bakery

2 Coulter Avenue

Ardmore, PA 19003

 http://www.cornerbakerycafe.com/home.aspx

A few weekends ago my girlfriend and I went out to the Corner Bakery in Ardmore on our way to Philadelphia to move her in to her new apartment. If you do not know what The Corner Bakery is, it is simply a bakery/breakfast place in Ardmore, located on the corner of two streets, hence The Corner Bakery. There are multiple locations in this area, but I happened to visit this location on said day. It is a quaint little coffee shop that has tons to choose from, and everyone can find something that they like there.

I ordered an iced coffee and a chicken-apple sausage, egg and cheese sandwich. Both were good, but they were nothing to write home about. I actually enjoyed the chicken apple sausage more than I thought I would. The overall sandwich was good, but it could have been improved if they had used less butter on the panini press when they grilled it. 

The iced coffee was alright, but I would much rather get one from WaWa or Dunkin Donuts. It just did not taste very strong. It tasted quite watered down to me.

The Corner Bakery isn’t going to wow you with anything that they have on their menu, but they will offer solid food choices for quick breakfasts, and a relaxing atmosphere to hang out in. My girlfriend enjoys studying there while she enjoys their delicious chai lattes. Go ahead and give it a try if you are in the area! Cheers!

"Buffalize It" I Dare You

Chicken or the Egg

207 N. Bay Avenue

Beach Haven, NJ 08008

www.492fowl.com/ 

One of the best places to eat in Long Beach Island is the Chicken or the Egg in Beach Haven. I have literally been to this restaurant hundreds of times. It is that good! They have incredible breakfast (voted best on the island), they offer great food all day long (they are open 24 hours), and you can “buffalize” anything on the menu (add any one of their 15 wing sauces to any dish on the menu). They are known for their wings, and made famous on Man vs. Food, a show on the travel channel. You can almost never go to Chicken or the Egg without waiting in a massive line, but each and every time that you wait, it is always worth it.

This time that I went in particular, I went for breakfast with my girlfriend and my brother.We sat down without a long wait, and we ordered right away. I ordered a California wrap, which was a tomato wrap filled with avocado, egg whites, tomato, and grilled chicken. I also ordered a side of zapper sauce, their third hottest sauce, and doused each bite of my wrap in it. The wrap was very good on its own. Each of the items inside provided tremendous flavor, and they all were enhanced beautifully with the tangy spiciness of the zapper sauce that I dipped it in. The hash browns served with it were very good as well. They are simple, small cut up potatoes, cooked until crisp.

I have to make mention of a second time that I went to Chicken or the Egg this summer, because the item that I had was unbelievable. I went on a Sunday evening for dinner with my girlfriend, my cousin, and his wife. I ordered a special that they had on the menu, and it was one of the best things I have ever eaten. Admittedly not the healthiest choice, but still fantastically delicious I had a burger, topped with pulled pork, served with a side of barbeque sauce, and of course I added the zapper sauce. It had every flavor you want in a complex and perfect dish. It was sweet from the barbeque sauce, tangy and spicy from the zapper sauce, meaty and salty from the pork, and doughy and delicious because of the roll, not to mention crunchy from the crust on the burger that was cooked to perfection.

The Chicken or the Egg is an incredible place to eat. The concept behind the restaurant is great, the restaurant is run correctly, and they offer phenomenal food in generous portions 24 hours a day. Whether looking for food after the bars close at 3 am, a fantastic breakfast, or great dinner, the Chicken or the Egg can fill all those criteria. Don’t miss an opportunity to visit! They are only open from the end of April to October. Cheers!

A Tap House Worth Hitting...

City Tap House

3925 Walnut Street

Philadelphia, PA 19104

www.citytaphouse.com/ 

Since Philadelphia is so big, they cannot offer one restaurant week for the entire city, so they break it up by neighborhood. In the fall they offered University City Dining days, a deal that offers a four course meal at multiple places at various prices. Some places you could get a four course meal for $15, others for $25, and yet others for $35. I do not spend a lot of time outside of Center City when I go to Philly, so I wanted to take advantage of this deal. We decided to go to City Tap House for a more casual atmosphere and enjoy a few beers with our meal.

City tap house is awesome! They have an incredible amount of tapped beers, and they offer all kinds of bottled selections as well. They even offer tapped root beer made by the Victory brewing company! They had specials on Anchor Steam beers on the night that we were there because the beer is originally from San Francisco, and the Giants were in town for a weekend series with the Phillies. I kicked back a few because Anchor Steam really does make some fantastic beers.

For our menu choices, we chose the ten spice wings and mini crabcakes to start, the cheesesteak and the potato gnocchi for our main courses, and the strawberry shortcake cheesecake, and the chocolate cake for dessert. I got to try a little bit of everything, and overall I was pretty impressed. Bar food is always something that I take very seriously, and City Tap House offers some pretty delectable fare. The wings were particularly interesting because they had no sauce, and they weren’t fried, but instead tossed in a ten spice mix and baked in the oven. They were incredibly juicy and left me wanting many, many more after I was finished. The crabcakes were also quite delicious. They had a crispy crust on the outside and large chunks of crab on the inside.

The real star of my meal was the cheese steak that I had. I do not usually order cheese steaks from places that are not cheese steak stands, but I decided to give it a shot because the description sounded so awesome. The cheese steak had a beer-cheese fondue on it, with fried onions and a nice rib-eye sliced on it. It was incredibly flavorful, and it completely changed my perspective on cheese steaks. The cheese sauce had so much flavor, and the meat was incredibly tender. I really do prefer cheesesteaks with wiz and onions on them, but this made me realize how good a cheese steak can be in other forms as well. My girlfriend’s gnocchi was also very interesting. I had never had gnocchi like it before, but before then I’d only had gnocchi in Italian restaurants. This gnocchi was a bit less fluffy and it was pan sautéed. It was very different than I am used to, but it was very good. It was served over a bed of arugula with some tomatoes tossed in as well.

The dessert was a little less stellar, but I wasn’t expecting it to really be fantastic. My strawberry shortcake cheese cake was a little too dense and extremely rich, and I found it pretty difficult to eat, so I only ate about half. The chocolate cake was also extremely rich and it was not very tasty. It tasted a little bit like it had just been defrosted, but I do not really know if that is true or not.

I would tell anyone looking for a good meal in University City for a fair price to head over to City Tap House. They have incredible beer selections, and the food is very well done. I would just recommend you get dessert somewhere else. Let me know what you think! Cheers!

Another Ho Hum Italian Joint

Roberto’s

12907 Long Beach Boulevard

Beach Haven Terrace, NJ 08808 

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Robertos-Dolce-Vita/165071260184943 

One weekend this summer, my family and I made a venture out to one of the places that I used to consider one of the best to eat at in Long Beach Island. As you can probably infer from the previous sentence, I no long consider it one of the best. The main reason being I feel that they offer very average food that lacks consistency, and the best thing on their menu they do not even make. That being said, we still had a good meal and a good time. I would like to apologize for there being no pictures, but Roberto’s does not allow pictures to be taken in their dining rooms, so I could not take any.

When we arrived we were the life of the restaurant in the room that we were sitting in. That is my nice way of saying we were loud, but we do not go out to dinner very often in LBI, so we like to enjoy ourselves. My uncle loaded up on the appetizers, as he usually does, even after we told him not to, but we enjoyed the calamari, fried mozzarella and “spicy” clams

The calamari was good, but not any different than most other calamari. The fried mozzarella appetizer was the only one that I would say was actually very good. They do not serve it as sticks, but rather as a square on the plate and topped with marinara sauce. It was very crispy, the cheese was perfectly stringy, like a great mozzarella should be, and the sauce was full of flavor. The same cannot be said about the clams. There was no spice in the “spicy” clams leaving the sauce a bit bland and disappointing.

My main course was okay, but it was nothing special. I am pretty sure they do not really know how to make chicken scarpariello, but I am pretty sure the traditional sauce is a lighter brown. Mine was a deep brown color, and I did not really care for the non traditional peppers and mushrooms in the sauce. They were clumsily added to the dish, and in large chunks; they were difficult to eat. The sliced sausage and the pepperoncini were welcome additions, but did little to bring the whole dish together.

The best thing on the entire menu is the peanut butter tartufo. I have never had another dessert so good anywhere, and I am not too sure I ever will. We have been told by the owner however that they do not even make them in house, which kind of ruined the spell of the restaurant on me. However, it is still fantastic. Tartufo is an Italian dessert in which ice cream is coated in a hard candy shell, sometimes with a cherry or other item in the middle of the tartufo. This one has peanut butter in the middle, surrounded by the best peanut butter ice cream I have ever tasted, and a hard chocolate shell. If I could find out where Roberto’s orders them from, I would order myself a box to have on hand, and never go back.

Roberto’s is a place to find an ok Italian meal in Long Beach Island. I am a little spoiled when it comes to Italian restaurants because I have been to some of the best, but I am just waiting for that time that I go to Roberto’s and I walk out of there saying “Wow. That was a great meal.” I simply haven’t had that feeling yet, but I have had average food, and it is reasonably priced. You can try it if you want to, but it doesn’t get my vote, and you can definitely find better Italian food on the island. If anything, just go for dessert and try the peanut butter tartufo. Cheers!

Complete Waste of Time & Money

La Campagne

312 Kresson Road

Cherry Hill, NJ 08034

www.lacampagne.com/ 

A few weeks ago my girlfriend and I heard that it was farm to table week in South Jersey, so we decided to try one of the places that was offering specials. Participating restaurants offered 4 courses for $35. She chose a place that she thought was French, and that claims to use French and Italian methods of cooking, but I’m still trying to figure out what style of food I ate. As you can probably tell, I did not enjoy eating at La Campagne.

When we go out to places that offer menus like this, we each order something different for each course, so that we taste a good percentage of the menu, to really get a solid feel for the menu. So we ordered the she crab soup, the gazpacho, bluefish rollatinis, a seared scallop, barbequed pork chop with corn succotash, flat iron steak, the jersey peach cobbler and the jersey blueberry cake.

We were the only people in the restaurant for the first 30 minutes that we were there, so it was very romantic for us. However when the food started coming out, it all went down hill. My she-crab soup was pretty bland, on top of the fact that it was cold by the time that I got it. I expected the gazpacho to be cold, but not the she-crab soup. The gazpacho was pretty good, but nothing to remember. Next came my bluefish rollatinis and her seared scallop. Both were pretty forgettable. Her scallop was seared nicely, but I felt it lacked seasoning. My bluefish stuffed inside cucumber rolls had a nice smoky flavor to it, but I could not get past the texture. It just felt like mush in my mouth.

Seeing how the meal was going, I was not very excited for the main courses. The pork chop was a little tough, but the barbequed flavor was good. My pork chop actually was ok, but the succotash was just awful. It was simply corn with a few random other veggies thrown in. I was highly disappointed. Her steak was abominable. I am pretty sure it should not have had a faint taste of soap, and that was all I could taste as I ate it. She did not even finish it because it was so bad. Lastly the attempt at dessert was horrendous. My peach cobbler tasted like peaches stuffed into a hot buttered roll. You should not be able to taste pure salt in a bread product ever, but especially not in a crust belonging to a cobbler. I couldn’t believe how bad it was, and I was pissed that the reviews I had read about La Campagne were actually good. Her blueberry cake was a better attempt than mine, but it was definitely not a good dessert by any means.

I had more pictures, but I'm an idiot and I deleted some of them before realizing I hadn't posted this yet. It wouldn't have mattered much because this place was so bad, but I still apologize. I wouldn’t recommend La Campagne to anyone, unless of course you want to eat cheap, poorly prepared food, for way too high of a price. Stay away at all costs. Cheers!

Love Me Some Diner Food...

Fred’s Diner

305 N. Bay Avenue

Beach Haven, NJ 08008

fredsbeachhavendiner.com/ 

Seeing as New Jersey is the diner capital of the world, its only fitting that there be a diner in almost any area of the state. I can vouch for that being true in the Southern part of New Jersey, and Long Beach Island is no exception. Fred’s has been a staple in the island’s memory for a long time: although its been through quite a few owners, it has always been around. They offer traditional diner fare, breakfast all day, lunch, and dinner on a few days of the week.

When you walk into the diner, you are immediately rushed back to the 1950’s. Everything is nostalgic. They have old school juke boxes at the tables, little bar stools under the counter that you can eat at, and even the décor takes you back visually.

But at Fred’s it’s not all about the decoration. The food is very good. They keep the menu simple, yet put their own spin on things. They do the basics right, and that always bodes well for the overall picture of your restaurant. On this particular visit, I ordered the Richmond Spiders omelet, an omelet filled with pretty much every topping you can get. It was served with a side of your choice of toast, mine was rye, and some home fries. I predicted what my girlfriend would order before she ordered it, and of course I was right. She ordered the cinnamon bun French toast. 

I thought that my omelet was very good. I know it’s pretty difficult to mess up an omelet, but I thought it was very good. The omelet was filled with cheese, ham, sausage, peppers, and onions. All of them are perfect things to pair with eggs, so it worked out nicely. The home fries were also wonderful. They were crispy on the outside, and super flavorful on the inside. My girlfriend’s French toast was a bit disappointing however. I thought it was going to be quite a bit different than it was, and so did she, but she ate it nonetheless.

Fred’s is not the best place in LBI to get breakfast or lunch for that matter, but they offer good food for respectable prices. You can definitely get a good meal at Fred’s if you know what you are looking for. It is definitely worth a try at least once, so try it and let me know what you think! Cheers!

A Black Whale Encounter

The Black Whale

100 N. Pennsylvania Avenue

Beach Haven, NJ 08008

www.blackwhalebar.com/ 

I get excited every time that I hear that my family has decided to make a trip to the Black Whale in Beach Haven, New Jersey. We do not go out to eat in LBI all that often any more because there is simply too many people to be paying for at dinners, so we only go out every other weekend or less. On this particular visit, it was a Saturday night, and it was only my girlfriend, my brother, my aunt, my uncle, and me, so it was a much more manageable bill for my uncle.

The Black Whale has a nice bar that is always packed because it is super casual, yet still really fun. The dining room is fairly small, maybe 25 tables or so, but it is always packed and if you come at the wrong time you will wait a really long time. I have waited 2 hours to eat before, but we went early enough this time that we did not have to wait much longer than about 15 minutes.

Once we sat down, I immediately began snacking on the oyster crackers that are served at every table with a side of fresh horseradish. They are so delicious and so addicting; I usually overload on them and do not save enough room for the rest of my meal. This time I controlled myself, and waited for the rest of our order to come out. We ordered some regular fried calamari, buffalo calamari, and steamers for appetizers, I ordered a piece of salmon in a cream sauce with little bits of chorizo, and for dessert a piece of key lime pie. 

All of the appetizers were very delicious. Not the best I’ve ever had, but definitely good enough for me to recommend them to you confidently. The calamari was super crispy, exactly the way I like it. The buffalo calamari was also fried perfectly, but it was then coated in a spicy buffalo wing sauce, making each bite crunchy and just spicy enough to leave that nice tingle in the back of my throat (you know what I’m talking about). The steamers were also very tasty. I don’t really know how to make clams much better, I guess using different broths will make them taste better, but these were as good as any that I have had.

The absolute fall ‘off my chair this is so damn good’ moment came when my main course came out. I do not know that I have had a better piece of fish anywhere, except maybe in Hawaii. The fish was cooked to absolute perfection. Crispy outside, juicy center, and covered in a savory cream sauce, it was heaven in each and every bite. The little bits of chorizo were just the icing on the cake for me. They were cooked down so nicely, clearly rendered for a while in a hot pan, and added a fantastic bit of salt and crunch to each bite that it came in.

When our desserts came I was pretty full, but I persevered an enjoyed every bite of my key lime pie with my girlfriend. It was pretty tart, but not too sour. The crust was nothing special, but it paired well with the filling. My brother’s dessert looked incredible as you can see below. He got a Bailey’s chocolate swirl cheesecake and it was super rich and creamy.

Do not miss out on a chance to try the Black Whale in Beach Haven. It does phenomenal food, and they offers tons of daily specials that are out of this world. Try to go during the week when it’s a bit less crowded or earlier on the weekend. Cheers!

Pho Fridays...

Pho Garden

600 N. Kings Highway

Cherry Hill, NJ 08034

As I have mentioned in previous posts, I have quickly come to love pho and I am really trying to find some of the best places around that serve it. The good thing is that I work with some people I would consider experts, and they usually know where to find some good pho. I had been keeping my eye on a place in the shopping center next to where I work, because I had seen that a new Vietnamese place called Pho Garden was going to be opening soon. Once it did, a bunch of my friends from work and I walked over on our lunch to taste their pho.

The feel inside was similar to the one I had at Pho Barclay and at Sammy Chon’s. We were one of if not the only group of non Vietnamese customers in the restaurant, which sometimes makes me feel out of place, but also lets me know that I am going to be in for an authentic meal. I split an order of spring rolls with my buddy, and I ordered the well done brisket and sliced rare beef.

The spring rolls with chicken came out first, and they were very tasty. They were served with a peanut dipping sauce, which was really delicious, but a bit too sweet for me. I added sriracha to mine after that, and it was 1000 times better.

The pho was a bit more authentic than the one at Pho Barclay, but I find it hard to say which one was better. The broths were quite similar; both were extremely flavorful. I added the same extra fix-ins to my pho this time: fresh sliced jalapenos, bean sprouts, thai basil, and sriracha. It made the soup nice and spicy. It was fantastic, and it fills me up perfectly each time. I would really love to know how they get it to stay so freaking hot that it can still burn the crap out of my mouth the entire time I am eating it. Pho really is a fantastic meal, and I would recommend it to anyone.

There are probably better pho places out there than Pho Garden, but for someone that has never tried it, or someone that doesn’t feel like driving too far to get it, Pho Garden is definitely a safe bet for some pretty good pho. Cheers!

Summer Time Bar Hoppin...

Tavern on Broad

200 South Broad Street

Philadelphia, PA 19102

www.tavernonbroad.com/ 

Summer is one of my favorite times of the year for various reasons, the girls, the sun, and the boozing to just name a few. When I found out that Center City offers happy hour every Wednesday at various locations in a program called Center City Sips, I was extremely excited. I did not get to go out for Sips very often because I have been studying for the CPA exam, but one particular week I went with one of my buddies for dinner to Tavern on Broad before we went out for Sips’ happy hour specials. We took the train to the city after work and walked over to Tavern on Broad for a few beers and some appetizers.

When we got there we had to walk downstairs to get to the bar itself which was pretty cool. The only other place I had done that before was the Cheers bar in Boston. I think it is really cool to have to walk down below ground to get to a bar. So we walked in and took a seat at the bar. Our bartender/waiter was very attentive the entire time we were there. I don’t remember her name, but she was fantastic. I ordered a few Magic Hat #9s and we ordered queso dip with Chorizo and an order of wings to split while we kicked back and relaxed a bit while sipping some brewskis.

When the wings and queso dip came out we started eating, and I was fairly happy with it overall. I love wings, and most types of bar food but I don’t really eat it very often, so I really enjoy it when I get the chance to splurge a little. The wings, I thought, were very good. Although they didn’t have enough sauce for my taste, they had the perfect amount of spice, and the sauce did have good flavor. The chicken was cooked perfectly as well, which always makes for a better wing. 

The queso dip was pretty forgettable. The chorizo was a nice touch, but the queso itself tasted like processed cheese crap that lacked flavor, not to mention it turned cold pretty quickly. I was so hungry that I ate a lot more of it than I really should have because as my buddy described it, “I could make this better in my kitchen.”

Although I didn’t eat a whole meal, I think Tavern on Broad is probably a safe place to get some pretty good bar food. They offer great happy hour specials on most days of the week, so I definitely think it’s a good spot for that kind of thing. And if for nothing else, it is definitely a cool spot to watch Philly sports games, hang out, and drink with your friends. Get out there and try it! Cheers!